Besides, I’m not sure how much reading, writing, math, and coloring is really going in a lot of schools this week—what with temperatures climbing into the high 90s in the third floor of some of the really old brick buildings.
I never could understand this impulse to push back the start of school in a system that’s not built to go year-round. You’d figure that if we’re making kids go to school a week before Labor Day, we’d install air-conditioning in most of the schools.
Now, I realize air-conditioning’s a luxury in a system that’s so broke it can’t afford music, art, or drama. But then I’d say the same thing about spending tens of millions of property tax dollars on a new basketball arena for DePaul.
The mayor’s very proud that he had air conditioners installed at schools receiving students from the schools he closed. But let’s be real—he only agreed to install those air conditioners to put a new spin on the school closings.
It went from “We’re closing schools because we’re broke” to “We’re consolidating schools to give children more educational opportunities.”
At this rate, if we close 50 schools a year for the next ten or so years, eventually all of the remaining schools will have air conditioners. Then we can start the new school year in July!
In any event, I don’t think there’s anything tremendously wrong for parents to pull their kids for a day so they can head downtown to protest the mayor’s school policies.
At least the central office is air-conditioned.
Article Appeared @http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2013/08/28/education-in-chicago-shut-up-and-go-to-school